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Hello All,

 Reply posted for Reddyd03.

I'm 24 year old and I had a hysterectomy in April. My mother had endo. and also had a hysterectomy in her early 20's. They thought that I might have endo. as well but it turns out I don't. After my surgery I started pain again and was referred to a G.I. doctor. I was just diagnosed with crohn's today. 

 Reply posted for Reddyd03.

Well I did find an article that addresses this dual problem, though it is a bit thick for a non-professional.  The editorial comments toward the end were a bit more readable to me.  THe article is linked on to this website in the "living with IBD" section, under "Women & IBD."  From there you need to scroll down to Journal articles and it is linked under the title "Gynecologic Disorders."  The full title of the article is "Inflammatory Bowel Disease, a complicating factor in Gynecologic Disorders?" 

The article was published in the late 90's.  So surely more current research is out there?  I will pursue this a bit further (I'm a librarian).  I wish my ability to understand would catch up to my ability to search and find.

 Reply posted for vaudry.

P.S.  I have hypothyroidism as well but the GP I see for that has yet to tell me the cause of it.  After looking it up on the internet at reputable websites like Mayoclinic.com and about.com, I think that there is a relation to that as well.  Both conditions are Auto Immune Diseases.  I am glad I stumbled onto your posts, ladies.  You have convinced me to make an appt. with my gyn. ASAP.  It's good to be able to exchange experiences to better understand one's own.

 Reply posted for 1mom.

Whhat?!!  Before I had my serious flare three years ago, the GI doctor didn't find anything wrong but I had pain, fatigue, constipation intermittent with diarrhea, bloating, canker sores in my mouth, back aches.  This went on for years, I was looking for answers and I went to my OB/Gyn at the time (I quit going to him shortly after) thinking maybe this is a women's issue since I would have really painful periods, cramping down to my knees--this is also a Crohn's symptom I had in the hosp.--diarrhea and fatigue, that dr blew me off as well.  Never had any tests done.  I had just come to terms that maybe the doctors were right and that I was a hypocondriac and that I really just had IBS with a low threshold for pain. 
After my third child, I was going to have a partial hystorectomy (since I was done having children and I have a tilted and slightly inverted uterus) but the recovery time was too long and opted for a tubal ligation instead.  I was pleasantly surprised with a fourth pregnancy before I could have the tubal ligation, but went forward with that after my youngest was three months old.  When my daughter turned six months, I wound up in the hosp. for three weeks with a serious Crohn's flare.  (I had to wean her early because of the 6-MP I was taking--and she was doing so well too, better than my other kids did--grr)
Presently, I am having a period every two weeks.  I have had ecceama (sp?) on my hands since I used oxyclean without gloves (yes, that wasn't smart!) and moved to a drier climate. 

 Reply posted for Reddyd03.

Wow! Same story here. I am 27, and was diagnosed with Endo when I was 20. I've had three laparoscopy's since to clean me out. I just got diagnosed with Crohn's in March. Everything was blamed on my Endo, but I knew something else was up. For the last two years, I have been so incredibly sick.....nausea, extreme diarrhea, fatigue, etc.....and they finally did a pill endoscopy & found all the ulcers in my small/large intestine. It was awful! I had an amazing gyno until about three years ago when he retired. So unfortunately, all I can offer is empathy. I firmly believe they are related somehow.

Can I ask if you have any children? I haven't started a family yet, but very much want to in the future, and I'm so worried about getting pregnant, if I even can. I don't know how my Crohn's will play into it either. So any advice would be great!

Oh, and if you ever need to vent, I'm here! :)

 Reply posted for Reddyd03.

I was diagnosed with crohn's when I was 16-- am now 46.  I had a couple of miscarriages when I was trying to get pregnant in my late 30's and had some laposcopic surgery to open up a fallopian tube Dr. thought was blocked.  Instead, she ended up finding the endometriosis and clearing that away.  She said some was attatched to intestines.  I have yet to find a doctor who seems to have a strong understanding of both problems.  Would love to hear of any such studies.  Most GI docs seem to be men and they get a little flustered when female anatomy is brought up. 

So no answers here, just sympathy. 

BTW, now have an amazing four year old girl.

 Reply posted for Reddyd03.

Me too! I was told in my early 20s that I have endometriosis so all my abdomial pain was blamed on that. I was on the pill and it helped, but it started getting worse and I started getting really severe nausea nearly every day for a couple of years. I had a severe flare in November that put me in the hospital and was finally diagnosed with UC, though now they are  looking at a re-diagnosis of Crohn's. I also get cysts on my ovaries and I swear these are all related in some way--they all flare up at the same time.

 Reply posted for Reddyd03.

Yep I am there except for i have had endo since the day I started puberty over 20 years then UC almost 2years and now IC and some inflammation on the skin of my hands. Since then all  four still have so many unknowns my Dr decied to stop my periods to see if it help since I am not repsonding to any meds for all four and guess what three months after no periods, no sypmtoms at all for any thing!! Only 1 Bm a day yeah no vomitting, sitting on the toilet all day. My energy is even coming back and now they are recommended a partial hysto and I am scared I will make the wrong choice!